The Call

I received it a couple of weeks ago and it totally caught me off guard. The caller asked me if I wanted to be the head coach of the FCA Grays. I had applied to be on the coaching staff, but not as the head coach, only an assistant. But here I was, being asked to lead a group of young men for a brief time, only for a summer.

I miss it terribly. The smell of the game: sunflower seeds, pine tar, dirty uniforms, smelly players, all of it. Yeah, I've only been out of the game less than a year, but I love baseball. So one of the first things I did when we moved to Rochester was to contact the community college in the area, see if they needed any help. Free help? Of course, we'll take the free help (some clothing for payment)! So I sporadically have made practice at RCTC and look forward to helping out. The head coach has put me in charge of the outfield and I am pumped to be involved again. I noticed that it's more about coaching and the personal interaction with the athletes that I've missed most. Being an AD, you don't have the daily contact of athletes.

Angela and I discussed what this decision would mean to the family. Obviously my absence over the summer would be hard. Angela would be home with the kids alone during the most beautiful months in Minnesota. I would need to work out missing time at my real job. I wouldn't have dad time at all. This was something I really wanted to do and could lead to a position down the road in baseball. Angela was behind it and reassured me that this was something I should do and she wanted me to do it. Yes! I took the job.

So here I am, daydreaming for May 26 when the coaches need to report to KC. I've begun to formulate the summer coaching philosophy and purpose for the team. We only have them a short time, so there's not a lot of personal philosophy that we'll be able to teach. For example, there is a certain way that I have adopted on teaching rundowns. But it's different from what is generally taught. But the staff can still impact the players on how the game is played and how hard to play it.

I appreciate you following my journey and I will be posting once a week until the season starts. I will post almost daily on my thoughts of the games and how much of an impact the Lord is having on these kids. The players are not required be believers in the Lord, in fact, two players from last year came to know Jesus. What a great opportunity to impact the Kingdom!

Thanks for reading!